‘Redneck’ Democrat Packs it in Over Open Carry

Wendy Davis' recent talk on abortion and gun rights has irritated some of her base. But it's led one Democrat in Limestone County to close up shop.by Christopher Hooks Published on Thursday, February 13, 2014, at 12:25 CST

Patrick Michels

Wendy Davis speaks at her gubernatorial campaign announcement October 3 in Haltom City.

Rancher, bookstore owner and 79-year-old iconoclast Bill Bond has been sticking it out in Limestone County for a long time, waiting for Texas Democrats to take back control of the state. He thought Wendy Davis had a good chance to do it. But the lifelong liberal activist says he’s so pissed off by Davis’ open carry talk that he’s shutting the Democratic Party storefront in Groesbeck, housed inside his bookstore. Bond swears that he’ll sit out the rest of the campaign—and that nothing will win him back.

Lately, Wendy Davis has been fleshing out her policy portfolio—drawing clear, bright lines around issues she may have only touched on in the Senate. She recently told the Dallas Morning News that she personally supports medical marijuana, and she’s endorsed recent efforts to challenge Texas’ gay marriage ban in court.

But other policy positions she’s adopted run counter to those held by parts of her liberal base—like her willingness to consider restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks, and her endorsement of “open carry,” which would allow Texans to carry unconcealed guns in public. She told the AP she “supports expanding gun rights in Texas,” before, on Monday, she partially walked back her comments, saying municipalities should have the ability to set gun laws for themselves.

A lot of Democrats will take those policy positions in stride, arguing that the perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of the good. Bond, who lives in Groesbeck, about a hundred miles south of Dallas, couldn’t disagree more.

“I’m a 79-year old rancher and I’ve got guns. I’m not afraid of guns,” he says. “But I think Texas as a culture is not with history, and I think Texas as a gun culture is in the wrong place. I’m not for shooting people. I’m not afraid of anything. I don’t carry guns. I’m tired of killing game, even.” When he thinks about the rest of the country seeing pictures of Gov. Perry shooting and posing with guns, he says, “that image of Texas is abhorrent to me. And I’m a redneck!”

Bond believes Texans should want to live in a place with less guns, not more. “My wife works at a little medical clinic here [in Groesbeck] and she sees gun accidents all the time,” he says. And he feels so strongly about it that he contacted the county’s Democratic Party chair to notify him the party could no longer roost in the back of his shop, Bill Bond’s Books.

The loss of Bill Bond’s Books doesn’t mean much for state Dems, who are stuck in a sprawling, brawling election that will consume tens of millions of dollars by the time it’s done. And rural Limestone County certainly isn’t fertile ground for Battleground Texas. Mitt Romney won nearly 70 percent of the county’s votes in 2012, but that wasn’t, Bond says, for lack of trying. Obama’s Waco headquarters sent two volunteers out to work in Groesbeck. “Bless their hearts, they were so green,” Bond said. “But it was a lot of fun.”

But it’s heartbreaking for Bill. He’s even shipping the pair of Mizunos he bought after Davis’ filibuster to her headquarters.

He knows politicians have to choose their fights carefully. But he can’t understand why Davis worked so hard against laws that would allow guns on college campuses in the 2013 legislative session, but is so willing to support open carry laws now. He also doesn’t see the political utility. “Where does she get votes from this? NRA members don’t trust her.”

And more than that, having been a lifelong Democrat in a crimson-red county—he recalls the cross that was burned on his lawn, and says he’s the laughingstock of Groesbeck—he places a high degree of importance on losing with your principles intact.

“She’s probably gonna lose this. We’re used to losing our battles here in Limestone County,” Bond says. “Sure, she’d be better than Abbott, but she won’t beat him. But she has a future. And it shouldn’t be a future with a pistol on her hip.” He sighs. “I would have put so much energy into the general election, and I don’t have that energy anymore. And I can’t get it back.”

Christopher Hooks joined the Observer in 2014. Previously, he was a freelance journalist in Austin, where he grew up. His work has appeared in Politico Magazine,Slate, and Texas Monthly, among others. He graduated from The New School in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in history. You can contact him at [email protected]

1bimbo

wendy davis ‘stands’ for everything because she thinks texans will fall for anything

GunnyFuy

Don’t all politicians…. don’t hate the player…hate the game.

DavidD

She doesn’t stand for everything.She is standing for Governor of Texas.
Go stand in line for your Ted Nugent tickets troll.He is a sadistic hatemonger so y’all have plenty in common and if you get there early you and Abbott can maybe get some good seats.

1bimbo

fortunately when me and my adult children went to the polls to early vote there was no ‘tednugent’ listed on the ballot. greg abbott was listed, 2nd on the ballot under lisa fritsch. wanna guess who we cast our ballots for? Greg Abbott. you better get back to the battleground texas campaign headquarters,you’ll want to be there when the investigators show up to bust the voter fraud scam.

OfAll

IF English is your first language, you shouldn’t be allowed to vote unless you can demonstrate a better understanding of grammar and syntax. You are simply too stupid to count. Our founding fathers insisted on land ownership, among other things. I would like to require a modicum of intelligence. If English is not your first language, this does not apply, we welcome your vote. We, who do not speak two languages as
you do, cannot evaluate critical thinking abilities via your native language as we can only read, well, one.

He was bright enough to get strung up by his heels after being executed by his own people for bringing disaster to them by declaring war on the Allied powers.
Many a promising young man of the 36th Texas division died in Italy helping to bring about his death.
Your admiration for facist dictators leave little room for your charge of extremism for a man seeking to bring change in a legal constitutional manner or are you so far gone that the rule of law means nothing anymore and your views are the only ones that can be allowed.

Just because Mussolini was a bad guy doesn’t necessarily mean he was a stupid guy. You really should be mature enough to distinguish between the two.

My views are the antithesis of fascism. Fascism is a species of the Left.

Joe Paolilli

What a feel good story…

usakindatheart

this woman is pathetic, she pushes for partial abortion, condemns women who have children , and her own mother was single when she gave birth to her.. what if ANN would of aborted her??? she wouldn’t even be here, spreading her hate of “life” of the unprotected unborn

OfAll

You are one of those opposed to teaching thinking skills to Texas school children, right?

OfAll

Bill Bond is a terrific man, let me count the ways. He is an honorable, thoughtful gentleman living among
ignorant thieves. Yes Barbara, I do mean you. Stealing and lying has become the norm in dear Groesbeck, Groesbeck was once a lovely town. Just as I wrote that I remembered the ugly parts, sigh. I am sorry.
I wondered why Mr. Bond’s store was closed last time I was in town, I always look for him. God counts on
the good men and women to keep on keeping on. I don’t know how you do it, Mr. Bond, staying so strong
around all that hate. There is more hate than oil and cow shit combined these days in Groesbeck, TX.